Avengers Play Horror
by KaosChild
Summary: One day the Avengers placed a bet on how long they could play a game without freaking. This is their story, with a somewhat reformed Loki to boot. Game in question may or may not be Amnesia; the Dark Descent. One-shot coz I didn't want to do any more homework.
1. Chapter 1

Kay, so I was playing amnesia and I thought of this. That is all.

I own nothing.

~~~~~ FRICKEN OBVIOUS PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Screams. That was all that they could hear – they being Bruce, Steve, Natasha, Tony and Thor. They briefly looked at each other before bolting down the hall to the rec room, where Clint's screams had come from.

They had expected many things, many, many things, ranging from Murdering blobs to a deadly pterodactyl. What? It could have been. But they had not expected to rush into a darkened room where Clint instantly turned and screamed from the intrusion. He had one of the walls connected up to, was that, a game? The speakers in the roof spewed out eerie music and Clint's eyes were wild. He quickly stabbed the Tab key with his finger and ripped himself away from the keyboard.

"What the Hell, Clint?" Natasha was the first to speak, "We thought you were in trouble!"

"I _was_!" he replied, "Dude, no joke, soooo scary…" He was met by a reply of disbelieving and mocking laughter.

"Yeah right," Steve commented, "Barton, it's a game, and while I may not understand the technology yet, it is clearly not real. Stop making such a racket."

"Yeah, I dare you to play it and not be freaked out. I _dare_ you."

"Clint, I'm not playing a stupid game."

"Maybe we should call you Captain Chicken instead"

"Clint I-"

"I like it, has a nice ring to it – Captain Chicken"

"Clint sto-"

"Maybe we can get your logo changed to a drumstick or something-"

"FINE! I'll play your stupid game!" Rogers yelled.

"How is he- Clint, he doesn't even know how to play." Tony addressed the main issue. He hated scary games, he just wanted to get the hell out.

"What is this 'game'? I see no way of actively participating in it." Thor questioned loudly

"Of course you don't. You don't understand anything," Tony replied exasperated, "How is it Loki understands everything about this planet but you can't grip even the barest necessities?" he sighed into his hand.

"Well now," a dark, smooth voice interjected, "How very intriguing – first a litany of screams and then mention of my name – one would think I was executing a plan again." They all jumped. Even if Loki was no longer actively plotting to take over the world his appearing skills still freaked them the hell out – they should be used to it by now. He leaned casually one of the darkened walls.

"Yeah, well, Clint screams at nothing and Thor can't understand anything" Banner said as a way of explanation.

"Really now." His slick voice slid across the room.

"Let me reiterate my question to you;" Tony spoke, drawing his attention. Tony liked being the centre of attention. Especially the centre of Loki's attention, but no one had to know that. "Why do you understand everything yet Thor can't handle even modern speech? I know you could if you wanted." He continued to steer the conversation away from the horror game.

"I don't think he gets everything-" Natasha cut in, "And for god's sake (Loki smirked) will you turn that noise off – it's disturbing."

"Thor never was quick on the uptake – he'd rather attack problem with force than patience – isn't that right brother?"

Thor, catching only the end of the sentence answered quickly with; "Of course brother – now what is this? How can I see this room yet not walk into it." He was ignored by the group as a whole.

"I still don't see your pop-culture knowledge. If you're so good, then I challenge you to say the first thing that comes to mind when I say this next name."

"Alright." Loki seemed incredibly smug when Natasha could theoretically pull a fake name from the air.

"Sam Sparro."

"When he sings black and gold he's really thinking about Heimdall back on Asgard. Screw political correctness, you wanted something – done didit gurl. Now, Captain, I believe you have a dare to complete." No-one questioned him. They all knew of the all-seeing gatekeeper by now. Tony, Clint and Banner were having a hard time keeping their laughter contained. And why did he sound so normal speaking that way? Poor Thor or Cap would probably die via awkwardness if they even attempted it.

While Clint was explaining the controls to Rogers, the other somehow ended up in an argument which ended in them all saying they could last at least 20 minutes before they paused the game from fright. They wanted to make it an hour, but there were seven of them and Clint assured them it would be near impossible. Tony, as much as he hated the game genre, was not going to let himself lose. Clint went first to show them how it's done. He lasted a dismal five minutes filled with mostly running around in the same room and whipping the screen around to every noise. Nothing even of note happened. Clint swore he paused just to check his sanity, but a pause was a pause and he was out.

Then the Captain sat down. He clumsily manoeuvred the keyboard, and clicked the buttons a might harder than needed, but he didn't break them – which Tony counted as a plus. He also counted Loki coming closer to view the reactions and his subsequent nearness as a plus. Steve wandered around the room and jumped in his seat when the wind blew some papers across the screen. To his defence, the sound of the wind was pretty loud, and it caused Clint, who was sitting right next to him to jump as well. He figured, looking around, that they all got a bit jittered by it, until his gaze landed on Loki beside him. The god was probably trying damn hard not to just laugh and ruin the silence created by the others – if his thinly pressed lips were anything to go by.

"What was that?" Steve screeched softly as he spun around in reaction to a noise. It was a mouse on the floor. Nice. Tony could hear the low rumble that escaped Loki's chest but he doubted the others did. Loki now had a hand up covering his mouth trying to squash his laughter back inside. It was pretty funny to watch the super-soldier freak out. Steve paused the game when one of the boxes, with an expectantly loud noise, launched itself across the room without as much as a warning. He screamed and so did everyone else – you know how it is, you wouldn't have gotten so scared if the movement remained in the screen but when others around you jumped, it was creepy. Natasha let out a sharp, quick squeal. Banner made a noise somewhere a cross between a yell and telling someone to hush. Thor belted out his displeasure. Clint screamed out something along the lines of 'Shfuuu'. Tony maintained his scream was manly, if only because it was a low 'whuuuuu'. Loki started with an 'Ah' which instantly digressed into a somewhat nervous laughter. It may have seen endearing to Tony. But no-one had to know, right? His time was 4:21, but they figured they'd give Clint a 1 minute penalty seen as he paused out of nothing whereas Cap was assaulted by flying boxes, putting Rogers in the lead.

Banner played next. He sifted through the boxes, found a note and they discounted the reading time. Picked up a tinder box and was the first person who even walked into a dark enough space that he needed to turn the lantern on. They put his calm down to his years forcing himself to remain so. He had to do a large puzzle which continuously threw scares at him and was especially tricky. Looking at the levers which bellowed a loud noise through the speakers when he touched them he yelped out a quick "What!" Loki ended up helping him solve the riddle by softly pointing out that IV is four in roman numerals, not six. Apart from that lapse in concentration, he was playing pretty well until he rounded a corner and almost ran into a walking monster. His scream started out softly and ended rather loudly as he turned and high-tailed it. His scream hit an octave higher as he turned and found the guy was following him, paused the game and bit his fist, trying to block the high keen that escaped his throat. Natasha, Clint and Rogers had all let out the same bellowing yell at the sight of the monster, and then continued with stunted whines throughout the rest of the chase. Thor jumped back with a yell, hands outstretched as a form of protection and knocked into Natasha, almost causing her to fall to the floor. Loki yelled out 'God _Dang_ it' as he placed a hand over his sure to be racing heart. Tony skittered away from the screen with a deranged yell, pushing himself closer to Loki. Loki just looked his way and smiled. And so what if Tony was supposed to be paying attention? Banner came in with a time of 7 minutes and 58 seconds – by far the greatest score, bumping Rogers to second and Clint into third.

Tony insisted he go next. He was getting hot; it wasn't from being scared almost out of his skin, and it most certainly wasn't because of the way Loki had been standing _right friggen next to him_! He was determined to at least beat Clint, so when the doors flew open his just shook the screen with the mouse and forced his hand to clamp down without hitting the pause button. And then the clicking noises started as his sanity drained and everything was swimming in and out and was it really his fault if he kept yelling 'stop it' to every noise he heard. The he heard the tell-tale 'bluuuuuuuuragh' of the monster and slammed his fist onto the pause key as quickly as he could, yelling out a rather long 'nooo!' The others made similarly loud noises, consisting of 'eeeeh', 'fuuuuu' and 'uuuuuh'. Except Loki who let out a sharp 'Gah!' followed again by the laughing and then a final 'shoosh' of air. He clocked in at 5:17. He counted that as a win seen as he only wanted to beat one person but ended up beating two, making him currently second place. The hammering in Tony's chest could probably be considered hazardous and that didn't improve when he got back to his place by Loki and he was gifted with one of Loki's new found soft smiles which indicated genuine happiness and amusement. They decided to take a small break as Clint showed Thor how to play – they weren't allowed to leave the room though – that would be unfair if they were allowed to gain their wits.

Tony's heartbeat wasn't calming down as loud noises kept shaking through the speakers while Clint tried to teach Thor. He knew he was freaking out. It didn't help at all that the room was dark and he was forced to hide from monsters in a game where he couldn't even hurt them. It made him feel more vulnerable than he cared to admit – although the adrenaline rush was fun, the constant anticipation was certainly doing no good for his body. And some of the scenes looked just a little too cave-like for him to appreciate. He was sure the others could hear his heartbeat – it felt like it was about to rip out of his skin. Looking sideways and catching the look Loki was giving him, he seriously considered that he could hear it. Loki's flicked his eyes to Tony's chest and back up, eyes locking again, and was that, no, it couldn't possibly be worry in the tricksters eyes – dare he hope? But Tony was pretty most 100% sure Loki could hear his heart hammering in his chest. He gave the god a weak smile and Loki's eyes flitted before he reached out and tugged Tony towards him. Tony could barely believe it when smooth fingers grabbed at his shoulder and pulled him in. Sure, they weren't standing on top of each other, but Loki had his hand rested against Tony's back and he could feel the cool fingers through the fabric of his shirt. While his heart continued pumping at an accelerated rate he felt calmer. He showed this by smiling somewhat at the god, and the answering smile he got in return, albeit small, did absolutely nothing for his current problem with his heart-rate.

Finally Thor's counter started and he barrelled into the game. He clicked continuously and kept putting his hand in a vat of acid, as well as being completely dysfunctional with opening doors. They paused the timer each time he was stuck with a door. Thor, Tony decided, was the loudest gamer yet. He bellowed at just about everything and hid at the slightest hint of noise. Whenever he spent too long in hiding they took that off too. Loki's hand twitched slightly at the slightly more frightening scares, although Tony was surprised he noticed through his own jumps. And then the screen suddenly listed sideways and the speakers pumped out a slamming noise before a monster came into view. Thor yelled for a long time, even after his palm had repeatedly smashed into the keyboard and all they were staring at was the pause menu. Bruce was gaping at the screen head tilted back as he moaned lowly from shock. Cap still had a very long 'whyyyyyyy' flowing from his lips. Natasha was catching her breath over the other side of the room decidedly close to Clint, who was all but holding her in terror. Tony kind of wished his scenario was similar. As it were though, he really had nothing to complain about. He hadn't really done much about his situation other than somewhat tasteless flirting at Loki – note the 'at', it was not reciprocated that often, apart from a delicately raised brow, which kind of looked like a challenge and a warning all at once – and yet the god still had his right hand on Tony's back and now had his left hand rubbing small circles onto his left bicep. It was really calming, although that might just be because it was damn distracting. Thor ended up lasting just shy of 16 minutes, placing him in a close second. Tony thought he might have made the whole 20 even if was only because he couldn't find the pause button. Not that there was a pause button anymore – the keyboard was trashed.

Natasha slowly made her was across the room to grab another keyboard and plug it in. Loathe as she was to admit, it was her turn. She looked around before she began, noting the scared states of all the patrons – except Loki, he seemed far too calm, and maybe smug, with Tony practically forcing his way into his arms. But then again, he lived on chaos, so no surprises there. She also took the time to memorise everyone else's times, because dammit she wanted to win. She started off well, with an overconfident 'I got this', only turning off her lantern when she heard a truly disturbing noise and hiding when it continued. Her downfall was when she came across a monster and, instead of hiding she figured she could run around it. It killed her. They counted that as a loss. She cursed the hell out of all of them, but it didn't make them jump the same way the game had only moments ago. He heard a low chuckle at her outburst and was surprised to feel it through rumbling tremors in his back and a cold breath on his ear. How close were he and Loki again? Oh, close enough he could feel the others body almost constantly. How was he doing? Swimmingly. Literally. His vision was about to begin flying all over the place and his chest felt incredibly tight. Tash only got around 3 minutes and 6 seconds, placing her dead last, something that Clint was undoubtedly happy about and had no qualms showing, even if it meant receiving a punch in the arms from black widow. They figured they'd have another break while Clint, still rubbing his arm, would show Loki the controls. But then Loki was already halfway across the room and Tony already missed him. Stupid feels.

Loki pulled the keyboard and mouse closer, shrugging off the others questioning glares with a simple; "no I'm good, I got this _all _under control." He smirked as he continued playing. He made small 'ft' noises with his mouse as he shoved boxes aside, stopping when he had cleared a path. They decided to take that away from his time, coz, really, he wasn't doing anything, even if it was a part of the game and even if he did look cute doing it. When he first saw the monster it was at a distance and looking the other way, but it was the only way he could go. His first words were 'no fucking way' spoken lowly and through some mix of aggressive and nervous. He looked around for a second and ran back a bit – they took it off of his time – before he took in a large breath. "Okay, so, looks like I can only go," he started as he walked towards the guy, "S'up brah?" he spoke, once again showing his affinity with modern lingo as the monster turned around. He then continued with a somewhat humorous scream as he ran in the other direction, as if he was considering being scared but couldn't open his mouth enough to yell. He turned as the guy puffed into smoke. "Uh, fucking poofers man." He exclaimed running back down the hall, "I'm so sick of this _hallway_" he ground the last word through a clenched jaw. And then he walked into a room with a guy strung up six ways from Sunday. "ew, why?" he spoke as he walked down the stairs, "Who put you there?" he jumped backwards as guy spoke. "oh, oh, your nice. Oh your nice." he said, and his voice just sounded like it made the smiley face emoticon. "Oh, and, you have no jaw. How are you even talking to me? What was your name? Agrippa. Nice to meet you Agrippa." He talked back to the guy, calming himself through the distraction. Again, they took the time away. The nest time he came across a bad guy he kept up a litany of 'oh, no, not you. No. no. no go away. No no no nonononono.' When the guys noticed him but couldn't reach him he just laughed and cackled a 'you can't do shit brah' at the monster before he sidestepped around it and he made it into the next section. Again, they reckoned he wasted a bit of time and took it off of him. Tony most definitely noticed how Loki was watching the timer. The following scenes in the torture chambers were decidedly unsettling, and Loki walked through them groaning 'Uh, grotty, filthy, uh man, that's so gross, yuuuuuk.' He swung open doors with enthusiasm, announcing loudly 'knock, knock' and running away when he walked into a monster. Coming across nights and dark spaces he told them he didn't trust them and ripped them apart. When they finally got back to Agrippa his time was almost up, but the others were trying their hardest to penalise him. And then he chopped off Agrippa's head and seemed shocked; "Oh man, I- I didn't mean to do it, I swear. No! I didn't mean to do it!" and then when he realised he was supposed to, "Oh, I'm supposed to take you with me? God dangit man, stop talking. Oh, heh, I'm A-gripp-en his head." He said the last sentence in an amused accent, before he turned and walked head first into a monster. He jumped violently and screamed "NO!" as his finger quickly flew towards the tab key. He buried his face in his hand, "Nooo, he was right in my faaace…" he tampered off. Suddenly his head snapped up and they all looked to the timer. Exactly 20 minutes. He jumped up screaming "Yeah" happily into the air. "haha!" He looked happy, but Tony's heart was still rapid-firing his blood through his veins, so he smiled weakly and walked outside. Loki followed and the others assumed that was it and left to do whatever it was they did.

Tony went to his room and flicked on the light. Only it was broken so he was shrouded in darkness and he'd already closed the door, cutting off the light from the hallway, and it was dark and was it always so cramped in here? Was it always so hard to breathe? He almost died when his foot connected with the edge of his bed, those stupid monsters were still fresh in his head and he couldn't see a _damned thing_.

Light flooded the room for a mere second and all he could see was the silhouette in the darkness, and oh my god he was going to die. He heard his name called out but he couldn't figure out how to respond over the rushing of blood in his ears and that thing was here somewhere and god it was right in front of him he could feel it's presence.

And then he had arms wrapped around him and a cold breath on the side of his face, something brushing against his cheekbone. He was fully encased and there was nothing he could do, but somehow the whispers in his ears and the cold seeping onto him helped him calm down. Finally, his breathing stopped coming so raggedly that he could hear what the whispers were saying; "Tony, calm down. Tony, Tony, it's fine, you're gonna be okay. I would say 'I'm here' but that doesn't seem too comforting seeing as it's me it's coming from, but I swear, you're fine. Nothings gonna hurt you. Tony, Tony? Can you hear me Tony?" he nodded dumbly against the chest he was pulled against, and the answering puff of relieved air against his ear made his chest constrict again, but, he noted, in a much better way than before. And then he was being held at an arm's length, his arc reactor shinning a dull blue onto the face of the god in front of him. Loki looked for something in Tony's eyes, his own wide and searching, before he was apparently content with what he saw and gave a small nod and smile. The smile lifted his cheeks and touched his eyes softly. His lips curled up slightly, and it wasn't malicious, but genuinely happy and relieved. Oh _god_, what Tony could do with those lips, what Tony _wanted_ to do with those lips. He found himself leaning closer, even if the gap between them wasn't all that large to begin with. Loki looked at him with question and confusion in his eyes, and Tony thought maybe he was going to make a mistake. Maybe he was going to push too far too fast, but the thought hardly got a seconds notice as he found his lips assaulted by the most wonderfully cool texture. It wasn't all that harsh, just a press, waiting to be accepted or denied, and boy did he accept. You better believe he accepted, he accepted with everything he could accept with. He gave and took everything in the clash and fight that followed. And he thought absently – maybe the scary game wasn't so bad if it ended like this.

~~~~~ FRICKEN OBVIOUS PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Before you say anything – yes I did take a decent amount of lines from other people's play throughs, but I also took a fair chunk from the reactions created by my friends and I.

Hope you enjoyed.

Stay awesome.

Time to get back to studying.


	2. Chapter 2

Because you wanted more and I'm not known for doing anything to help myself; ie homework.

I'm much more partial to playing with peoples' minds, so, this is for you… Also because a bunch of you wanted more, and I like to make you happy. Because you happy means reviews and likes and whatnot which makes me happy. Completely selfish here… : D

I haven't played this game much, so sorry if it isn't as good as the amnesia one…

~~~~~OH GOD THAT'S THE TIME PAGEBREAK~~~~~

Avengers Play Horror 2 – Cry of Fear

Tony hated his life.

So much.

So, so much.

Like, you have no idea. It was alright, for a while. Then Loki came. Then he was pinning for Loki. Then some more pinning. Then he was emotionally and psychologically tortured by a game. Then he made out with Loki, which was great. Then, next day, back to pinning for Loki. Like nothing had even fucking happened.

The. Absolute. Worst.

So yeah, life sucked in a way he'd never had to imagine, let alone endure before. So now, sulking and pinning, although if he was asked, he'd deny both accusations.

And maybe that was the problem, because it wasn't as if Loki had been ignoring him, he'd just been acting like nothing had happened. Tony was doing the same, waiting it out. He realised dumbly that they both were probably riding out the same strategy; let the other make the move, in case you had it wrong. He never really thought Loki would act like that, but hey, he never thought he himself would act like that. And if he couldn't predict himself, how was he going to predict the epitome of unpredictability – the god of mischief himself.

He craved the attention he received before, even if it was only for a few moments while he calmed, before he spent the rest of the night in the lounge room watching Disney movies to make him feel better. He felt hot jealousy course through him when he saw Natasha and Loki talking. In Russian. He couldn't even understand a word of what was being said, which sucked ass when they were the only others in the room and he had to endure listening to Loki's sickly sweet voice being directed at someone else. And because of this, Loki had gotten used to talking in different tongues, and would often go off on tangents in foreign languages none of them could understand. Sometimes, JARVIS translated; if he needed to.

He didn't mind it that much, most of the time no-one could understand him, and he could watch the god pretending he was watching him out of confusion instead of ogling him and no-body was the wiser.

But he still craved, craved being closer. Every time Loki interacted with others, well, let's just say his thoughts weren't very positive.

There was one time he caught Loki making ice cream in the dead of night. He wasn't following the guy, he just so happened to be heading to his room after an arduous day in his lab working for Fury when he had heard him. A topless Loki, and wasn't that the greatest, was singing Cinema by Benni Bennassi as he moved around the kitchen, movements as fluid as water. 'Hope you don't stop running to me coz I'll always be waiting, you are my cinema, I could watch you forever.' He'd wished desperately that the god had been singing about him, but realised what he was doing would most likely, no indubitably, be considered creepy, so he went on his not so merry way. At least he could still feel the swell of pride at introducing the god to the music he loved so much.

He thought about that kiss. Whichever way he thought about it, he came to the same conclusion; Loki cared, at least a little. Because you don't stick your tongue down someone's throat if you don't like them. He realised he was probably being incredibly optimistic, but he'd never really felt like this, and he would do whatever he could to get the god.

So when Clint stormed into the eating area at 8 o'clock at night telling of the latest game he'd acquired, he pushed his fears aside and pronounced loudly that he would play. He received a questionable look from Loki who no doubt remembered his fear from last time, but hey, if anything could re-fabricate the experience it was this.

Clint said the game was called cry of fear. Wonderful, but he'd endure it.

They set the same time limit, because like hell they weren't going to try to outdo each other. It was a daily, if not hourly occurrence and they prided themselves on being able to one-up the others. They quickly learnt who not to challenge to what, having obvious strengths and downfalls, but still; they were all in on this one. They had to change the rules somewhat, the same as they had with the previous game; pausing was allowed to swap objects, or finish puzzles etc. but the pause had to be announced before hand. Any pausing when there was a scary anything was not tolerated.

As Clint let the game begin, he could already feel himself freaking out. And the lights were still on dammit.

The rest of the avengers came in and Thor flicked off the light, shutting the door behind him. A chair was set up and ready with a fully functional keyboard and mouse for whom ever was willing to participate first. He realised he probably had the most sullen look on his face when his jaw started aching from tension, and the game hadn't even begun yet.

His only consolation was that it seemed to be set in a city.

They probably argued for a good 7 minutes before they decided that Thor was going first because he was not 'scared of a game that cannot cause harm.' Yeah, right. Not what it looked like last time. He let the comment fall from his lips and was given smirks all round. He especially liked the one from Loki, sly and amused.

Once again Clint had to show Thor the controls, because as is turns out he really is a slow learner when it comes to technology. The rest of them all found suitable view points while they worked, Natasha drawing up a board to show order of gaming and subsequent times on a tablet placed on another wall. He found himself standing further back than the others, and maybe it was so he could see their reactions, maybe it was so they couldn't see his. Maybe it was because here he was closer to the door, closer to escape. Whatever, he would endure this. He would endure what he could.

He was unabashedly happy when Loki immediately gravitated towards him, still looking at him like he'd lost his mind. Maybe, he thought, he had. Was reliving nightmares worth Loki's attention; maybe, probably, definitely. Definitely worth it, he decided, as Loki stood close enough that their arms rubbed against each other, his right arm tingling at the contact it created with Loki's left.

There were a lot of cut scenes at first, which set the scene and were quickly taken out of Thor's time, and then, finally, the game began.

Creaking, heavy breathing, barely visible scenes; all things Thor trudged through with a stone set look of defiance upon his face. Loki let out a laugh, small, but it was there. He threw a questioning glance at the god. Loki leaned in closer to whisper as so not to break the atmosphere, and Tony _loved_ it.

"He is in mamori, sorry, defense, and he doesn't even realise." He chuckled out, words slipping through another language. They could see the way he was worrying, shoulder pulled taut and arms close to his chest. Ready to run, bracing for impact. Tony grinned; huffing out what laughter he could, elbowing Loki lightly in his amusement. He got another smile in return as he turned his attention back to the screen.

Thor jumped violently three times in a row in response to images flashing on the screen, though he steadfastly rode it out with corresponding screams of 'gah', 'huah', 'no!' He used the phone as a light and found a hammer to use as a weapon. It was great until they realised it was clearly a trip point, but by then it was too late, the monster throwing down a door and running at him.

It was horrifying and they all sent scattered yells of displeasure into the air. Clint took in a giant breath, a deep noise clawing its way from his throat in a sound somewhat resembling 'guuuuh' as he latched onto Natasha, who, for her part, gripped back just as hard and screamed 'naaah!' Banner jumped and swung his arms as he lost balance yelling 'puuuuh!' Steve was hilarious, a chocked 'gackah' escaping his throat while Tony just took four successive breaths which made his sound like a gaping fish. The best way to impress, he thought sarcastically. How was it that Loki's 'Oooh-hohohoho' laugh was completely enthralling whilst all he could do was feebly try to gain air in shock. Totally not fair. Thor's was probably the most amusing, seeing as his overly large frame let out a decidedly girly shriek. Loki mimicked him moments later, dispelling the fearful moment even as Thor continued to play.

The monster's limbs were bent awkwardly and it moved in disjointed progression making noises mixed between shrieking and yelling, perhaps an overlay of both. Thor tried to fight the fear, attacking the monster as he could but screaming out at the screen in a below that suggested he thought he could scare away the monster with it. He died, and his counter stopped at 8 mins 23 seconds. It was better than last time he'd played, but everyone was probably more determined to win this time.

Tony let his cheeks fill with air before dispelling it all at once, trying to calm himself. His heart was already thundering in his chest, the clicky clack noises still travelling through the air even as Natasha readied herself in front of the keyboard. Loki seemed to think nothing of it as he slung his arm around Tony's back to give comfort and Tony, while still feeling shit-scared also felt a sense of satisfaction that his plan was working at least a bit.

Natasha began the game quickly, not giving herself any time to question her moves or what she was going to encounter. Unfortunately, for her, it also meant she gave herself no time to create a plan of attack/defence when she was attacked by a squealing monster baby. It looked like an enormous toddler and sent her screaming down dark passages, the screams of the other avengers following in sync. Loki took a sharp breath; 'huh-eeeeew' cringing at the look of the creature in front of them, fingers momentarily pushing into Tony's shoulder from the shock. Tony, in a similar fashion, screamed 'gahhhhewwww', which he maintains was dignified, especially compared to what Steve had let out, a long 'Nuuuuuuuuu' hands coming up to grip the side of his face. Clint, off to the left was still holding his breath in an attempt to stop himself from screaming bloody murder, and he'd missed the first part of what Brice had said, but he was still letting out a non-stop drone of 'uuuuu.' Natasha, almost hyperventilating, stood in the shadows in the game, lasting perhaps another twenty seconds before the noises and swings of the camera became far too disorienting and creepy, letting out a high whine as she paused. 5 minutes 14 seconds, second place. It also happened to be last place.

He felt a pat on his shoulder and then Loki was pulling away. He was momentarily affronted, and even longer scared that he would have to endure this alone, but then realised it was Loki's go and he couldn't really keep Tony calm while he tried to face digital evil. He couldn't help notice the way the god moved as he placed himself in the chair – lean lines and tone enough to distract him from the screen for a moment. Until, of course, the noises started up again. Fucking lovely.

The first corner he rounded he was encountered by a creepy baby thing. Slicing at it with the knife he called out 'Na kaleni, suka!' as it started to fall. Natasha, while still reeling from her outburst of fright had a smile sliding across her face. Russian, of course. Luckily JARVIS had been translating everything Loki had been saying in a small com he had in his ear, no matter what the subject. He had noticed that, since then, Loki and Natasha spoke less, well, at least spoke less around him. 'Russian; On your knees, bitch' JARVIS translated in a far too emotionless voice, but hey, at least he knew what had been said. He continued to traverse the caverns and corridors, and in light of his previous win, they tried to penalise him as heavily as they could. He took it as best as he could with freaky noises running across the space. It wasn't until he came across a particularly strange obstacle that they thought he might just chicken out.

He turned the corner into the room and saw the floating figure, backing up into the corridor he had come from letting out a litany of; 'Nope, nope, nup, no. Nuh-uh. No way. Nup.' Thor pestered him until he walked back into the room, which in honesty took only about 5 seconds. He tried to cross straight past and into the adjacent corridor, but his character was pulled back to her. "Resist suicidal influence? I'm resisting! Resist! RESIST! Oh good. Disturbing shit." He attacked the screen with his words. Trying to get a better look at the creature he took a moment, only to have to resist again. After he had finished that he walked forward to attack her. Reaching the creature, something protruded from her stomach and lashed out at him. He made quick work of it, turning to walk down the corridor he had originally wanted to go down. This section of the game was especially creepy, and not because of the noises, but rather due to the lack of sound. Loki's voice was the only thing that filled the void, which was fine because it sounded nice and there was always something to talk about. At that particular moment he was picking something up exclaiming 'gimme gimme.'

Turning the next corner he encountered another of the floating creep women who no doubt also had an evil baby ready to attack. Walking forward to kill it he noticed another in a side section. Turning to look at that one he also noticed there was one behind him. He started clicking frantically as everyone hollered their displeasure. "Oh fuck me! You best be joking, you BEST BE JOKING! Futue te ipsum!" he cried clicking madly and running in small contained circles which somehow allowed him to get out of the situation alive.

"Latin sir; Go fuck yourself" JARVIS translated dully.

He died when he was surrounded again, creatures coming from all directions in what they were pretty sure was a trigger death, something that needed to happen for the game to progress. Either way, Loki was still letting out a muted 'mmmmm' through his pursed lips at a high octave, with Steve still whining out an incredibly low open mouthed 'noooo'. It didn't matter in the end; Loki had made it past the 20 minute mark again. As soon as the god noticed he slammed his fists down either side of the keyboard in his joy, evidently, not as hard as he could because the structure remained intact. "AW YIS! You better believe it! Haha!" he pressed the tab key as he lifted himself from the chair and relinquished the control to the next player. Who just so happened to be a still shuddering Steve. Tony was eternally grateful that Loki came straight back, resting a hand on his back in a comforting understanding as Steve began to move the character jerkily around the screen.

The first thing he did was complain when he was on scaffolding and found m16 bullets, turning to accuse Loki of not picking up an important item with a sideways glance and a 'you were too busy trying to be fabulous.' Tony felt the hand on his shoulder blades slip down to his lower back as Loki's body jostled with his laugh and an amused "Bitch I _am_ fabulous." All he could think was 'fabulous indeed' as the contact sent spears throughout his body which did nothing for his heart rate and clashed devastatingly with the fear coursing through him. If he thought his heart was thundering before he had no idea what it was doing now; probably exploding.

Steve pouted and continued with the game. He killed a few monsters and absently noted to himself that he was stabbing babies, which didn't sound great and would probably be used against him at a later date.

A horrifying noise mixed between a screech and static sent everyone into shock, their faces creasing with distaste. Steve heard the first second of it and set off in a dead run, forward, backwards, sideways, anywhere. Doesn't matter, he ended up running straight at the thing that let out the noise; a small girl looking creature with giant needles as arms. "Aw yuuuuk." Was all he heard of Loki before the screams of the other avengers took hold on his mind. He must have been appropriately scared as the hand on the small of his back was rubbing small soothing circles which made his chest contract. Not good, seeing that his chest was already tight with fear and now his every breath was a burden to take, hard to suck in and even worse to release.

He noted chuckles all round as the creature killed Steve, Loki letting out a small 'vitskertr' which JARVIS translated to an old Norse expression for idiot. His time came in at 7 minutes 2 seconds, knocking Thor into third and keeping Natasha last.

He was glad that another person's go was over, beginning to realise that this was a terrible idea; surely there were other ways to get Loki's attention than making a fool out of himself by freaking himself the fuck out. It didn't get any better when he realised it was his go. Stepping away from the pressure on his back was harder than it should have been; he can face a stupid game. It's just a stupid game. Stupid and fake; a stupid game. That was basically the direction of his thoughts as he stepped forward.

His fingers were shaking as he positioned himself, not really caring about what was going on, just focusing on making it through his turn with a little voice in the back of his head telling him to make it past five minutes 14 seconds. He couldn't figure out for the life of him why.

He hid his fear by talking his way through it, finding the sound of his voice oddly calming, even if he only said 'okay' over and over again. Talking made it seem as though he wasn't really a part of the game, but when fronted with displeasing noises he still held his breath tight and willed himself not to enter cardiac arrest.

For the life of him he couldn't figure out what he'd done to find himself in the only part of the game which had reminded him of a cave thus far. It didn't help at all, but finally he made it outside where dead women fell from trees and he slapped them with the stick he was using as a weapon. "I hate you and I slap you." He spoke after he had sufficiently stopped screaming. Fricken women were falling all over the place.

He died when a maniac with a chainsaw thought it would be appropriate to chase him through the forest. The menacing whir in his ear no matter how far he ran was enough to have his vision swimming, finding it incredibly hard to drag himself away from the keyboard and chair in sluggish movements as he tried to figure out what was where. He thinks he handled it pretty well when Clint slid into the chair without a second thought even as he practically tripped his way over to Loki. He didn't much care about anything else – in his confused mind all he could work out was that Loki equalled safety, and he was all up for felling safe.

His vision was still swimming when he was brought back to reality by a smooth voice in his ear and a cold rush of air on his neck; "Congratulations, 6 minutes 58 seconds, putting you in second place." Everything began righting itself and he could feel the arms wrapped around his torso from behind, holding him firmly against the body supporting him. There was that feeling of satisfaction again, small as it was, as he was brought back to the current events by Clint exclaiming in a high voice; "I'm a genius!" after presumably finishing a puzzle. He ran forward to the door only to see a monster and scream, "Oh no! Why did I do that! Why did I DO THAT, NOOOOOOOUUGH!" he yelled as he was killed. Natasha let out a cackle as his time rang in at 4 minutes 21 seconds. Who knew that the two assassins would be worst at surviving horror? They punched at each other like they had already gotten past the fear and Tony envied them incredibly.

Bruce was up last, and he cracked his fingers to signal that he had this, he was gonna win. And by win they meant make it past the 20 min mark and have bragging rights. Tony was trying incredibly hard not to lose the feeling of the arms wrapped around his for the fear he was experiencing, but it was hard and he could still feel his chest as it shuttered with the effort of breathing and his hands shaking as they gripped the arms encasing him for comfort.

He tried to control himself as disfigured shapes worked their way onto the screen and the people around him jumped and cried out in shock, the pieces around him tightening their hold, and he felt trapped and safe all at once. He was brought out of his musings when his chest rumbled due to something other than his own fear – words. "The hell, is that a bed?" Loki spoke, head coming down to rest on his shoulder as he spoke. As much as the touch stumped him he forced his eyes to focus on what they were actually seeing, and yes, that was a motherfucking bed on the motherfucking roof with a body hanging out of it and damned if he was ever sleeping again. Things were way too fucked up here and he lasted another couple of minutes before the room returned to a somewhat cave looking area. Okay, so, he would deal with this, he would. But then there were monsters coming and Bruce was running with noise echoing off the walls. To top it all off, there was water. Water and caves and people chasing him, trying to kill him.

He pushed at the cage around him, slipping out as quickly as possible, running to the door and trying to open it; why wouldn't it open? Oh that's right, it was locked so no-one could calm down and then come back to win. Motherfucking great idea that was. His chest felt like it was on fire with every breath and he was vaguely aware of a leather boot clad foot kicking down the door before he threw himself into the light. Screams from the room chased him as he made his way down the corridors. The screams turned to laughter and it was only getting worse because he could hear feather soft footsteps trailing him spectacularly, maintaining an exact distance and goddammit he just wanted to feel _safe_.

Heat was all he knew as he ran at his door, ramming his shoulder against it in a feeble attempt to get it to open. He didn't want the heat, the flame, the fire. He wanted to be gone, to be safe again, if only he could get through this damned door he could escape.

A cool feeling skirted across his hands as he tried to move the doorknob; his hands slick with sweat sliding off constantly. The cold sensations wrapped around his palm entirely, loosening it from the brass as he followed it willingly, like water on a burn. The door swung open and he followed through it briskly, the cold following him as he walked more than ran.

He was enveloped by the crisp feeling even as he shuddered against the memories pulling at him. Why had he thought that was a good idea again? It was most definitely a stupid idea. There was no way anything could make up for the amount of fear he was feeling now, the hurt in his head and heart as he remembered heat and pain and torture. At least now he could start feeling better, wrapped in a delicate chill. That chill was so far from the heat and intensity of everything around; soft and frosty, not pushing or pulling, just being.

He focused on the chill to the best of his ability, mapping out where it connected with his body in his mind. A soothing algid plane against his back. A pastoral crisp which wound around to his front, sliding across his chest and abdomen. The more he focused on it the better he felt.

He pressed himself into the frost, pleading it to keep him serene even as his senses began to return to him. He noticed the plane behind him moving in and out, the crisp around his front rubbing circles into his sides. It felt nice. His sight was still blurry but he could make out the gold, black and green around him. It didn't bring anything hostile to mind, so he continued to pull himself together, a feeling of safety urging him on. He'd made it to safety, and he was never leaving again. Ever. Stupid mind and stupid ideas; that was a better train of thought, something more familiar.

It wasn't until he felt a waft of air against his throat and heard a soft "Are you alright?" that the reality of the situation came crashing down to him.

Right. He remembers why he'd done such a stupid thing now. Loki. It all bubbled down to Loki, the alluring god who had so easily captured his attention, the god who's attention he was trying to capture and the god that was currently pressed against his back providing blessed release from the searing warmth.

He gave a small nod as he turned in the grip, Loki letting his arms open only for the duration it took him to turn, clamping back down as soon as it was done.

"Surely your pride is not so important that you would endure this." The god stated more than asked, forcing Tony into a gentle yet firm hug. He shook his head indicating no, and wasn't that just the problem? His pride wasn't important to him – he'd let it slide any day to avoid reliving those terrors, but the god? He'd willingly let himself endure the horrors for this moment, and if this was all he received he was fine with it. The god had been important enough to make him undergo the repugnance. Loki was important enough.

He noted absently that he was still shaking as the god pulled him back to look him in the eyes.

"Then why?" he had a look on his face that told of confusion and concern, mixed with happiness from trouble averted. His brows were pulled together slightly and sat higher on his face than normal, mouth curving slightly at the edges as he tried to understand. They were so close.

He took the initiative and pressed forward, lips meeting. He let his breath wash out as his heart began hammering with a fear of rejection rather than a fear of past events. Why the hell did he feel like this? This shouldn't terrify him so much, he was a renowned playboy; he could handle this surely.

Lips turned upwards unhindered as he felt those underneath his slide in a similar fashion. He couldn't help the noise that escaped him as it stopped, the god putting space between them.

"If that was all you wanted you only had to take it." The god whispered; a gracious beam secured sincerely in place, faces still incredibly close. The words cut straight into his mind washing unnamed feelings across his entire being. He wrapped still fluttering hands around the body in front of him, his compromised mind creating only the most dull of responses.

"Anytime?" one flew from him freely. Probably the stupidest thing he'd said, but far from the stupidest thing he'd done. The god nodded softly before placing a soft kiss against his lips. "I'm an idiot." He muttered still dazed. The god chuckled in front of him, breath washing wonderfully cool waves against his skin.

"That you are." Amused.

"But your idiot, right?" Tentative.

"That too." Convivial.

They needed a new door to replace the one to the rec room Loki had kicked in, and Bruce had gained bragging rights making it to 20 minutes and 2 seconds, but that was fine. It was better than fine. It was amazing.

~~~~~ OH GOD THAT'S THE TIME PAGEBREAK~~~~~

So the last bit took longer for me to write than usual but oh well.

Might do another chapter if I get enough people asking for one, no promises though…. Although I might have a squidgen of an idea for it…

Leave your thoughts in a comment/review/whatevar

Stay awesome


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